29. Family Business
FAMILY BUSINESS
The house was dark when Robbie and Jake arrived.
Boxes still sat in the living room and the hallway, and Jake pushed them aside with his foot as they passed.
Soon, Robbie would have his own things—whatever didn’t count as an heirloom back at the old Eaton Manor, which probably wasn’t much—but until then, they were stuck with the bare bones Isabel had left behind.
It would have been funny if they’d even bothered to stop and take stock of the quiet little world around them.
But there was no stopping Jake and Robbie now.
Robbie’s kisses left a trail of fire in their wake. Jackets and ties came off, then shirts, buttons pulling as fervent hands yanked them out of their buttonholes. The sharp zip of trouser flies punctuated the silent house, along with the quiet gasping and the sound of skin against skin.
Jake hadn’t made his bed that morning. He hadn’t found the energy, but now he regretted it deeply.
Robbie would have made his bed, even if he wasn’t expecting company in it.
But Robbie didn’t care whether Jake’s bed was made or not.
He fell on top of it, with Jake on top of him, a whimper escaping his lips as Jake sucked tenderly on his neck.
Tonight they weren’t fucking in the back of a bookstore or making out in a dark alley. They weren’t nestling into Robbie’s king-sized bed either. They were just two people, together and in love, reuniting in the place that they finally got to call their own.
Such a simple life had never felt so good.
Robbie scrambled out from under Jake enough to get the lube out of the drawer.
Jake was ready to climb off of him, allowing Robbie everything he had tried not to fantasize about during those dark, sleepless nights, but Robbie handed the lube to Jake, hooking his legs around Jake’s hips to keep him locked in place.
“Your turn.” He smirked.
“You little…” Jake shook his head, but he’d already wasted enough time. He wasn’t about to finish that sentence and waste even more precious seconds.
He settled into place, pushing Robbie’s knees closer to his chest. He slipped a finger inside Robbie, giving him time to get used to the pressure.
He’d long since given up on the idea that he could fuck Robbie, and he stopped wanting to at some point, too.
Having Robbie inside him was enough. But they were partners now, giving equally to each other in their newfound balance.
This was how Robbie wanted it, Jake could tell as much by the way he gazed up at him. This was how it needed to be.
Jake entered Robbie with a quiet groan. A puff of air escaped Robbie’s nostrils as he bit his tongue, holding back a whimper. He waited until Jake gave his first gentle thrust to let it go. Jake shuddered at the sound.
Robbie had always been hot to him, even when it was in an obnoxious way, but now that they were together with the promise of a thousand more nights like this—or mornings or afternoons or whenever they wanted, really—it was almost too much to bear.
He was the luckiest man in the world.
He thrust in again, moving rhythmically in motion with Robbie’s hips. They worked so well together in moments like this. They had always worked well together; Jake was just too stubborn to see it.
Robbie whimpered again, the small plea escaping his lips almost without intention: “More.”
More. Jake took a breath. More of him. He dipped his head, catching Robbie in a hard, passionate kiss. That was his answer, and Robbie took it gratefully.
Somewhere out there, people were partying.
They were getting tired, maybe, or they were only just getting started.
Time had blurred into a haze. It had slipped away from Jake, still passing, but only noticeable in the ways that Robbie changed beneath him, or in the tension that was building inside of him.
It was the string of saliva that pulled between their lips as Jake broke away.
It was the next thrust, and the next. It was the creak of the bed every few seconds when the shifting of weight was too much for it to take in silence.
It was the ticking of the clock on the wall that had always run a bit too fast.
A strangled mix of a breath and a moan slipped between Robbie’s teeth. Jake knew that sound well by now; he was close. As if to confirm this, Robbie’s fingers dug deeper into Jake’s flesh, pulling him in harder.
“Please, Jake,” he breathed. “Make me come.”
Jake didn’t have to be asked twice. He lowered his head again, locking Robbie in another kiss that he held until Robbie shivered, and then stilled, his moans muffled by Jake’s mouth.
He let Robbie go, his head falling back softly against the pillow that had moved half off the bed in their feverish motions.
Jake pulled out, squeezing his cock in his hand as he sat back, getting off of Robbie so the man could breathe. He climaxed in a fraction of a second, squeezing his eyes shut tight as the sensation overwhelmed him, brief and all-consuming.
He fell back in bed next to Robbie, his stomach sticky and his forehead damp with sweat.
He let his hand fall onto his chest as he stared up at the ceiling, still trying to catch his breath.
Robbie reached his hand over, resting it softly on Jake’s arm, and Jake smiled up at the ceiling, his eyes closing as the weight of their exertion finally caught up to him.
Even as they lay practically motionless, the too-small bed cramped them in closer than Jake would have liked.
He wondered if maybe they could manage to fit Robbie’s mattress in through the door.
That would be nice. But he doubted it was possible, and they would inevitably have to settle for something in between the two sizes.
The silence felt so natural in the sleepy darkness of the room.
Jake could have lain there forever as he listened to Robbie breathe, the smell of sex still heavy in the air.
He considered getting up and opening the window, but it was too cold out for that.
Or maybe he was too tired, and the very thought of getting up made him sink deeper under the covers.
Or maybe he simply didn’t want to leave Robbie’s side when it was unnecessary.
A bell sounded on the beach, breaking the silence. It was midnight. A new year. Robbie turned to Jake, smiling softly as cheers erupted far away.
“You’re happy with this, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Oh, Robbie,” Jake murmured, “I’ve never been happier in my life.”
Alex arrived at the train station early the next morning, lamenting to Jake the entire drive back about how she wished she didn’t have to miss the big dance.
“I bet it was fun,” she said.
“Dramatic, more like,” Jake told her.
Sitting next to him in the front passenger seat, Robbie shook his head. “Don’t rehash it,” he said. “Your poor sister doesn’t want to be part of all that.”
“Of course I do,” Alex said, and Jake could hear her grin all the way in the backseat. “So, Jake, what’s the plan for when you’re heading up?”
“I’m not,” Jake said.
“You didn’t tell Alex?” Robbie muttered.
“I didn’t exactly have time, did I?” Jake muttered back.
“You’re staying?” Alex sounded like she could hardly believe it, and Jake didn’t blame her.
“Yeah,” he sighed, “I’m staying.”
“With Robbie.”
“Yes, with Robbie.”
“I guess he finally started listening to reason, huh?” Alex said to Robbie, who stifled a laugh.
“You could say that,” he replied. “One of us listened to reason, anyway.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain later,” Jake said. “None of that matters now. You’ll be driving Isabel’s car back up to your place, and a moving van is taking the furniture that she wants tomorrow. You have room for it, right?”
“I already told you last week, I’ve got plenty of space.
She’s literally taking her bed, a chair, and some trinkets, Jake.
She’s the definition of packing light, and I guess now without your stuff, I’m still going to have room.
” Alex leaned forward. “What about you, Robbie? Are you bringing any cool furniture over from your place?”
“Not really,” Robbie said. “Most of the things in the old house belong to my parents, and, well, it’s a long story, but they’re keeping everything they own. I’m basically starting over.”
“That’s adorable.”
“Shut up, Alex.”
“Jake, please, not in front of your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my—never mind.”
Jake pulled onto the back road that led to Eventide from Grayland. It felt good to be back to teasing and being teased by his sister. Whatever happened, he would always have her to lean on, and now Robbie would have her, too. Isabel was right: they both had a new family. They would be all right.
“You need to call Mom and Dad,” Alex said. “Tell them the good news. They’re going to be thrilled.”
“Yeah,” Jake said after a moment, “I bet they will be.”
“This is exactly what they wanted for you, isn’t it?” Robbie asked.
“I guess it is. Huh. Maybe they were onto something after all.”
Alex and Isabel left early in the afternoon to beat the traffic. It was not a tearful goodbye, but a happy, almost relieved one. Jake couldn’t help feeling that it was an appropriate end to an era.
“I’ll be sure to visit,” Isabel said, holding Jake in a hug that had already lasted for several seconds.
“You’ve gotta make sure we’re keeping the house and bookstore up, right?” Jake chuckled.
“Oh, you’ll do just fine on your own.” She squeezed him tighter, and then finally let go. “But I imagine I’ll be back and forth quite a lot in the beginning simply because of the logistics.”
“You always have a place to stay here,” Robbie assured her. “This is still your house.”
“It’s not,” Isabel said, “but I do appreciate that. It’s yours now, Robbie.
Yours and Jake’s. The bookstore is yours to run again, too, and I have the utmost confidence that you’ll be able to make it thrive again.
” She pulled Robbie into a hug next. He really did look like he belonged there.
“Goodbye, dear,” she murmured. “Take care of Jake.”
“You know I will,” Robbie said.
“I know.” She stepped back, taking in the sight of her nephew and the man he’d fallen in love with one last time. “I’m just a phone call away,” she said. “Anything, any time of day, don’t hesitate to call.”
“Same goes for me,” Alex said. “If you ever need help running a bookstore for a day, please call me. I would love to help.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see about that.” Jake gave her a begrudging hug, and then it was Robbie’s turn.
He looked so content having someone who cared about him for who he was, not who they desperately wanted him to be or errantly thought he would be based on a name.
“I hope we see you again soon, Alex,” he told her.
Alex beamed up at him. “I promise you will.” She turned back to Jake. “Oh, by the way, I’m talking to Mom and Dad about having Christmas here next year—or later this year, I guess. Either way, you’ve got basically a full year to prepare, so get to work, boys.”
“That will be nice,” Robbie said. “I’m looking forward to meeting your parents.”
“It will be nice,” Jake agreed. “I mean it.”
“I know you do,” Alex called as she dragged Isabel’s bags to the open front door. “You’ve always been a terrible liar.”
Robbie turned, giving Jake a knowing glance. Jake blushed, never more grateful that Alex had already walked out the door.
Alex and Isabel drove off into the horizon, the midday sun lighting their way like a predestined path onward.
Isabel’s car, working perfectly after Jake’s final tune-up, was filled to the brim with boxes and bags of clothes, pictures, and every other little thing that meant something to the woman who had lived here for forty years.
She’d left some pictures for Jake: the family photo from that one summer, some holiday photos, and a couple more Jake had asked for in the sudden realization that he couldn’t bear to look at the built-in without them standing there.
She was happy to leave them. Jake had never seen her happier, truly.
Robbie, who’d watched them go out the window and waved one last time, turned around and made his way to the couch where Jake sat. “Well,” he said, “it looks like we’re finally alone.”
“We sure are,” said Jake.
“Are you okay?”
“Me? I’ve never been better.” He leaned against Robbie’s side, and Robbie put his arm around him.
“I love you, Jake, but I want you to tell me if this isn’t what you want.”
“It is,” Jake assured him. “I love you too, Robbie. I love you more than I ever thought was possible—I mean that.”
Robbie smiled: the sweet, warm, loving smile that made Jake’s chest swell, not that devilish smirk. “Thank Mier that Isabel wanted to sell her house and you were stupid enough to get into a bar fight.”
Jake reached back and grabbed Robbie’s wrist, pulling his arm tighter around him. “That was a long time ago. We’re past all that now, right?”
“Oh, please, Jake, I’ll never be able to get past that sad, lost little man I saw in Sandway. That was the day my life changed.”
“Mine too. Well, sort of.” Jake closed his eyes, the memories flooding back all too easily for something he’d tried so hard to forget. “We were two very different people back then, weren’t we?”
“Entirely different. I wouldn’t want to go back to that now that we have this.” Robbie’s head rested in the crook of Jake’s neck, and Jake began to stroke his hair.
This was where he was meant to be: with Robbie, a man so opposite him it was comical, in a house he’d hated as a kid and resented as an adult, with a job he wouldn’t have dreamed of holding a year ago.
It was perfect. Not too perfect, though. Just perfect enough for Jake to know he was doing the right thing.
“Thank you for giving me a chance,” he murmured. “Lots of chances, actually. Way too many.”
“Thank you for giving me a chance too, Jake.” Robbie’s breath was warm on Jake’s neck, and the scent of his cologne wafted up to his nostrils. “It means the world to me.”
“We’ll do just fine,” Jake said after a moment.
“Yeah, we will.”
Robbie’s breath evened out while Jake continued to stroke his hair.
Life was hardly ever fair, but perhaps this one time, when Jake had finally let go of his own stubbornness and let someone different into his life, and Robbie had finally found the courage to stand up to people who’d never cared about him as much as they should have, it had played out exactly how they needed it to.